A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

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kw573
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Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Mon Apr 26, 2021 1:00 pm

Good morning Diamond T devotees,

The re-setting of the springs was meant to be a 15hr turn-around job. It ended up being 10 days!
During the re-setting, where the individual spring leaves were re-shaped in a pneumatic (air) powered press, one of the main leaves broke! Good grief! I was unimpressed to say the least. :x
But upon inspection, two small cracks could be seen on the underside of the leaf, about 1mm deep and 6mm long. After I calmed down and thought about it, I realized that it was probably better that it failed now instead of in the middle of the Simpson Desert.

The spring works manufactured a new spring leaf using good quality Australian spring steel. This is important, as much of the steel used in Australia is imported from Asia and is 'cheap and nasty'. It also had the 'nib' around the centre bolt hole pressed to locate it on the adjacent leaf. So, an extra trip to Gympie to pick up the springs. And they are heavy, 49kgs each to be exact. After painting, I had some assistance to put them in place as I couldn't manage that by myself without knocking off a lot of the new paint. Once in place, I put a pin in the eye until I had the bushes fitted.

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It was then time to tidy up the old bushes on a bench grinder before fitting. You may recall that I fitted NOS bushes during the restoration, but they suffered huge distortion with almost zero driving. So, I re-fitted the usable old bushes, rotated 180 degrees, thus forcing the existing distortion back to a better alignment. The bushes seem to crack at the visible end, but are fine inside. So, I ground off much of the cracked rubber for a much more confident appearance.

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The two bushes need to be central in the spring during assembly as they will not self-centralize when tightening the shackle bolt, even when lubricated with red rubber grease. How do I know this? There is one I have to dis-assemble and reposition.

The U-bolt seat is easiest fitted after starting the U -bolts, which BTW, are not the same length. The longer ones go in the forward position. It is not in the way when starting the U-bolts, and drops straight into place.

Image

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The overall result is an moderate improvement in spring travel. Although I asked for a 40mm increase in set, it has resulted in only 25 - 30mm increase when fitted. The difference is obvious at the spring bump stops, but not that noticeable looking at the whole truck.

Anyway, I feel way more confident in the spring travel available for crossing over 1000 sand dunes soon.

Yesterday was ANZAC Day in Australia (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), remembering our past and present service members. This is the first chance I've had to support the local parade with the Glorifier. A good day. (The picture is a bit rough, but the best one I've got.)

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Have a nice day.

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.


kw573
G-Colonel
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Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Sun May 02, 2021 3:22 pm

Good morning class,

I have several jobs on the go at the moment.
The cabin rear has been removed for access to the transfer case for a few repairs and the steering box has been removed also for oil leak repairs.
The steering box weighs 39kgs and has a reputation of being tricky to remove/replace due to how the cabin floor escutcheon plate is originally designed. Many trucks have this plate cut in half. I haven't done that . . . yet. :|

Having taken everything off the column in the cab, I removed the pitman arm and the 3 chassis mounting bolts. Now, I can pick up 39kgs from a bench top, but no chance under the truck. And there is not much room between the chassis and engine. So much so that I removed the fuel lift pump for a bit of 'wriggle room'. As the sector shaft goes through the chassis, the box had to be rolled upward as it was withdrawn from the chassis. As I was by myself, I laid on my back and moved it with my boots out and onto the top of the diff housing. It was at this stage that the box made an unforeseen roll onto my foot, trapping it in the 'V' between the spring and the diff center. Not bad enough to be painful, but, good grief, well and truly trapped. After a few minutes, I realized that there was a tyre lever within reach and I managed to pry the box up enough to get my boot out. It wasn't scary, but it did get my attention! :oops:
I could then slide the box out the front over the diff housing.
The actual oil leak was at the lower end where the housing is closed off with a sheet metal plate (probably pressed in place) which has the horn wire tube pressed into the center of it. I had previously attempted to seal it using a good quality silicon. Complete failure.

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So I drained out the oil, yes, oil! The side plate gasket and sector shaft seal are both doing their jobs well, so I don't want to disturb them. I then removed the old silicon, degreased the area, and sealed it with 'Epi-Glue'. This epoxy has given me good results with petrol/diesel leaks, so heavy oil should be no problem.

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While at it, I cleaned the column back to bare metal to remove the red oxide, then repainted it. We'll see how much of the new paint gets scratched off when fitting it. And I'll be using some sort of assistance to put it back!

Another issue is the front spring bushes. They are a fairly large rubber-type item that I guess was used to give flexibility to the front end, being a 6x6 truck. I had problems with NOS bushes being too soft, it seemed (see p.12). Anyway, I am running out of usable spares so went on the hunt for suitable material to make some replacements from. Bearing/engineering shops only had very rigid materials such as polyurethane, polypropylene and nylon. So I went to a trailer shop to check out some polymer springs, basically blocks of rubber that act as the spring. The manager suggested something that I had not even thought of, . . boat trailer rollers!!! They come in different materials and sizes. And cheap! We found one that was a hard-ish rubber, I could just get it to move a bit with heavy finger pressure, and was just a good size to get a pair of bushes out of it. AU$7!!

Fortunately, the problems with machining rubber weren't too much of an issue due to how hard this rubber is. But, a sharp tool is needed and I used a medium speed (600r.p.m.). It worked well.

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I had to open up the center hole from 3/4" to 1" using a freshly sharpened drill bit, some lube and the drill press. I adjusted the drive belt to be loose so that I had the grip by hand to stall the drill bit. Then fed the bush onto the drill bit holding it with both hands. I couldn't see how I could clamp the bush well enough without distorting it and so giving a wrong result. And yes, it did stall a few times until I had worked out how to control the feed so that it would cut rather than wedge and stall. Even then, I had to finish the hole with a die grinder. But it seems to have worked well.

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Then test fitted them.
Here is before . . . .

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. . . and after.

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I think they may be about 3mm too long, and, of course, we won't know how good they really are until I've done some test driving on them.

Until next time,

Have a nice day.

Sam
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Mon May 03, 2021 7:07 pm

Good morning MV enthusiasts,

Yesterday, I attacked the oil leaks at the transfer case PTO. Started by removing the PTO. There is a lot of oil on the hand brake cross member and hand brake below the PTO. I thought that most of it was from the PTO oil seal, but upon close inspection after removal, there is almost no oil leaking from there. Seems that it is coming from the PTO chain. It seems a poor design to me that puts an oily drive above such a critical component as the hand brake. I had the thought of putting a shield over the hand brake, but it would not likely be very effective. I may resort to regular degreasing.
Anyway, a definite oil leak was the selector shaft. Upon dis-assembly, I was surprised to find no oil sealing component at all!

Image


It is a slightly less than 1/2" shaft in a slightly larger than 1/2" hole. That's it!
I had expected to see a felt wiper in the hole, but no, nothing.
The two grooves are the 'engaged' and 'dis-engaged' detent positions. A detent is a spring loaded bearing ball that holds the selector in position once selected. That is why a gear shift will stay in place when you select a gear. The hole is for the grub screw that locks the selector fork to the shaft.

So it was a simple task, once I ground a good sized tool bit, to turn an 'O' ring groove in the shaft . . . .

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. . . and fit an 'O' ring.

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Technically, the shaft was 0.495" dia. and the hole was 0.510" dia. The 'O' ring was 0.067" cross sectional dia. So allowing about 10% crush, I machined the groove to be 0.047" deep.

It went together nicely and the PTO has now been re-fitted.

One more job done!

Enjoy.

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Tue May 04, 2021 1:24 pm

Good morning curious observers,

I managed a reasonable day on the Glorifer yesterday.
The top of the transfer case received some attention. The input shaft had both a rattling slinger and a leaking oil seal. As the companion flange is on a taper, I needed to use a puller. Fortunately, I had one that was both small enough to fit in place and strong enough to do the job.

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Below is the slinger that had a rattle to it, hopefully it is the rattle that is driving me nuts when driving.

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The slinger should be a simple medium drive fit (= hammer on/off), so I ran a small weld bead around it to shrink it about 0.010" which worked fine.

Image


Then, the seal/bearing housing was removed to replace the seal and check out the seal surface on the shaft. The seal that came out was 1/2" wide, but I fitted a 1/4" wide seal as that is what I could get locally. The housing, below, still has the old wide seal in it.

Image


When re-assembling the shims, I cleaned each one and used a light smear of Locklite 515 flange sealant on it. I have previously wondered how to seal shim packs, but am confident that this product will both seal and not interfere with the shims spacing, and is not too messy.

Here, ready to fit the housing, some plastic tape is used to cover the keyway to avoid damage to the seal when I slide it into place. The shaft had a good smear of oil to lubricate the seal during fitting.

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And all re-assembled ready fit the drive shaft. In the picture, at the far left, the red-ish Locklite can just be seen squeezing out of the shim pack. All the mounting bolts and holes were cleaned and I used thread sealer on the bolts as they are 'through' holes.

Image


One more job done.
Have a nice day.

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Wed May 05, 2021 1:41 pm

Good morning fellow industrial voyeurs,

The steering box has been re-fitted. It was easier to fit than remove because I was a bit smarter about it. The Kenworth provided a 'sky hook' from which I hung my workshop chain block and attached it, via a rope, to the box down through the top with the bonnet (hood) stay unclipped and the bonnet laid back onto the other side bonnet. I used the chain block as it would give me good control. And the rope was less likely to damage anything in the engine compartment that it rubbed on. I had to remove a couple of pipes, but it worked well. Here it is ready to have the rope attached. The cardboard protection can be seen.

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So, raise a bit, feed the column, raise a bit, feed the column, etc. The only problem was that I forgot to feed the column into that pesky escutcheon floor plate and the cardboard wouldn't fit in it either.

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Anyway, it went into place without a lot of trouble. Had to take the trailer brake control off its' pipework to fit the escutcheon plate. Putting a wooden block under the clutch pedal to hold it down helped a lot and the brake pedal is easy to hold down by hand. I also removed the exhaust pipe completely and, later, fed it into place just before screwing down the plate. This exhaust pipe doesn't connect to anything below the floor boards, it is just a air dump exhaust pipe.
And, yes, I did need to do a bit of paint touch up when finished. I'm going to use the same oil in the box again. It came out clean and is doing its' job well. Now, to put all the pipework and PTO shaft back on.

One more job done.

Have a nice day.

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Sun May 09, 2021 7:27 pm

Hi Mechanical masters and apprentices,

My annoying chase of oil leaks continues.
Having resealed the rear lower bearing cap on the gear box, I did the same with the front and rear bearing caps on the PTO. These bolts are all in 'through' holes, so the threads need to be sealed. But, the PTO holds oil after the box has been drained and needs to be drained separately. The TM says to use one of these lower bolts to drain the PTO but this has a minor problem (some oil remains) and a bigger problem which is that the bolt hole thread remains at oil level and so can't be properly degreased to apply a sealer. They subsequently leak. So, I have for a while been going to put a drain plug in the PTO, but not got a round to it. Now, at possibly the least drain in years, I get to it!!! :lol:

After consulting the parts manual, I guessed the lowest point and drilled a pilot hole . . . .

Image


. . . . tapped a 1/8"NPT thread (1/8" is the nominal ID of the pipe used with this size fitting and NPT = National Pipe Tapered. BSP = British Pipe and is very similar eg 27t.p.i. vs 28t.p.i.) . . . .

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. . . . and fitted a brass plug.

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The selector shaft on the PTO was a bit damp and I had wanted to fit the leather boot I had made 10 years ago. I needed to glue a 1/4" tank bolt . . . .

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. . . . on the end to hold the end of the boot.The dampness was more than I want to deal with at this stage. Anyway, the boot finished off the PTO nicely.

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There is one oil leak left to do on the gear box and it can then be filled with the new oil.
Waiting on some new seals to arrive for the transfer case and front diff.
Then it will be the involved front wheel alignment modification that should solve several front end problems.

More jobs finished.

Have a nice day.

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Mon May 10, 2021 12:53 pm

Good morning technical voyeurs,

The pinion carrier has been assembled and fitted to the diff housing. Waiting on the new seal to arrive.
The reason I removed it was to re-seal the shims that position the pinion on the crownwheel and to checkout the seal surface as the seal was leaking also. My previous efforts to seal the studs were mis-guided, as they turned out to be blind holes! :oops:

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I was a bit confused by the design of the pinion nut. My experience is that the pinion nut is the tightest nut on the vehicle. I recall the rear diffs pinion nuts needed over 1000ft.lb. of torque. Yet the front diff nut can only be tightened by two 1/4" engaging holes. 1/4" pins would fail long before the 1 3/4"UNF nut was anywhere near its' needed torque, I thought! The nut + locknut can be seen in the picture above, and below, they are with the lock washer. I wonder if I damaged the seal on assembly (very easy to do) by forcing the lip across the locknut/lock washer/nut junction. :oops:

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So I made a tool to tighten these nuts.

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It is a steel plate which I turned a 1 3/4" (+ a few thou.) hole in the middle and with two high tensile 1/4"UNC bolts threaded into it, locked in place and then cut to length to engage the nut precisely (red arrow). I then needed to hold it in place because as soon as it starts to move out of place, its' strength is greatly reduced. So I made a collar (blue arrow), found a washer (yellow arrow), and put the companion flange nut on top of it all to hold it together.

Image

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The clamp is to hold it on the vise. The pinion has a (tapered :?:) hexagonal recess in the inner end which I located on a good-sized bolt welded to a mounting plate held in the vise.

Image


This allowed me to apply a good amount of torque, I'm guessing around 200ft.lb.
The carrier was then refitted with cleaned and sealed shims.

Enjoy.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Wed May 12, 2021 2:11 pm

Good morning MV followers,

Next was the pinion seal. I bought one by size from the local small-town parts shop and tried to fit it using a good sized pipe in the arbour press . . . .

Image
'

. . . but it would not seat properly. I put it down to the grip of the polymer coating on the seal. The seal housing distorted before seating, so I turned the lip in front of the seal off the housing to have access to the outer side of the seal and press it back out. I then straightened the seal housing using the arbour press, lubed the seal housing with 'Stag' sealant and this time it went home with little problem.

Image


Next was how to protect the seal lip from the edges of the nut/lock washer/lock nut during assembly. See arrow below.

Image


So I wrapped it with plastic insulation tape, . . . .

Image


. . . . oiled it and slid the seal housing into place with Loctite 515 as the gasket.
Just a technical comment here - the colour of the plastic tape is not important unless you are trying to impress someone! :)

Image


Also, in the picture above, it can be seen where the lip in front of the seal has been machined off the housing, giving me access to the front of the seal and to be able to remove the tape after assembly. It was then a simple task to fit the companion flange and the drive shaft. Now, the companion flange on the transfer case is within 2 degrees of parallel to the companion flange on the front diff, well within accepted tolerances.

Almost done!

Have a nice day.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Thu May 13, 2021 1:20 pm

Good morning, oh curious ones, (I'm running out of new greeting phrases!)

Good progress was made yesterday. My mate, Mal, came over and gave me a hand for the day.
We dis-assembled the CV housings to modify them for improved wheel alignment.

Image


Once dis-assembled, the parts were cleaned and inspected. I didn't find any problems beyond lubricants escaping their proper place. The seals in the end of the diff housing have some damage. Maybe I wasn't careful enough assembling them 4000kms ago.

Image


Getting prepared to drill the housings, making 'blanking' plugs, a bracket for the drill press and a pair of drill jigs. While that is happening, I have laid marine epoxy glue on the corroded CV housing balls to smooth the surface in readiness to take the 'O' rings that I plan to replace the felt seals with.

Image


The gear box and transfer case have been refilled with a straight 90 mineral gear oil with about 10% oil stabilizer (Morleys, similar to Lucas) added and the whole lot degreased. Time will tell how successful my war on oil leaks has been.

More jobs completed!

Have a nice day.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Sun May 16, 2021 1:59 pm

Good morning recreational engineers,

I have made the modifications to the CV housings to allow a reasonable caster setting with the diff housing in the new rotated position, needed for drive shaft clearance and correct companion flange angles.
This started with some "Hardox" washers and a template being laser cut for me. Hardox (An SSAB product) is a grade of steel that is considerably harder and stronger that mild steel. The green arrow shows one of the four washers that will reinforce the mounting flange that has been weakened by drilling new holes in it.
The red arrow indicates the 9deg rotated hole in the laser cut template that will ensure accurate and consistent hole placement in this critical part of the vehicle. The drilling jigs can be seen in the center of the template.

Image


First job was to turn some blanking plugs, 0.003" oversize, which were a heavy drive (hammer) fit and locked in place with retaining compound as well. The last hole has been left to bolt the template in place for drilling.

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As the two housings are rotated in opposite directions, I checked the correct direction of each offset about 50 times before starting to drill!! :roll: To ensure accurate placement of the holes, I turned pilot starter jigs which are a snug fit in the template holes and have a 1/8" hole drilled in the very center (done on the lathe) to start the pilot drill with.

Image


Setting up in my flimsy little drill press took a bit of thinking, but I managed it. The steel support extending off to the left of the picture has a leg to the ground to prevent movement when drilling.

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And this is how it turned out. It looks great, but there is zero clearance on the studs, so I had to die grind the holes slightly to fit them to the axle housing. Drilling is not an accurate process from an engineering point of view. Further, as I hand sharpen my drill bits, they are never quite exactly centered. I have learned that for critical drill jobs, buy new drill bits!!

Image


They haven't been tested yet, I'm holding my breath!! :?

The contents list on P.1 has been updated.

Getting there.
Have a nice day.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Thu May 20, 2021 12:42 pm

Good morning loyal and casual viewers,

The felt seals on the CV housing balls were certainly not doing their job, so I went looking for a way to improve the seal there. First problem was the corrosion on the ball itself, quiet significant in places. This ain't gunna seal anything!!

Image


After filling the rust pits with epoxy glue, I filed . . .

Image


. . then sanded to a much smoother surface. Slight imperfections will hold grease to lubricate the seal. The seal material I've chosen is 'O' ring material, purchased by the length. It is a simple job to cut to length and join with super glue. I have since come across graphite-impregnated rope (as used in MB rear main oil seal and industrial/domestic water pumps) and teflon-impregnated rope (as used in outboard motors). Either would probably be worth a try as well. The recess in the housing is 1/2" wide, so I tried 13mm diameter material.

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It seemed way too big, too much pressure on the ball. I had seated it with a small hammer after using spray lube on it. A good firm fit. So I figured that if I ground some material from the back of the 'O' ring, it would set deeper and so reduce the pressure on the ball and so reduce wear and stiffness in steering. By hand, I ground about 1mm off, giving a 4mm width 'flat' on the outside of the O ring.

Image


Sorry about the focus.

Image


Then test assembled. Definitely needs lubricant, but that done, it seems it will be doing a good job at keeping the grease inside the housing and contaminates out. I'm pleased.

Image


Now to re-assemble the front end. Greasy!! :?

Have a nice day.

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Fri May 21, 2021 3:00 pm

Good morning fellow engineers,

I have now assembled the front hub assemblies, and am very pleased with the result.
But, good grief, did I have to do some things twice? Hmmm, I fitted the brake chamber on the first side three times!!!
Anyway, assembling the CV housings on the bench (see previous post) allowed me to check king-pin bearings preload and seal the shims on each bearing cap. 'King pin' is a bit of a misnomer as live* (driven) front axles usually don't actually have a 'king pin', but an upper and lower bearing to do the same job. I was also able to brush the inside of the housing with a coat of grease to prevent rust and ensure full lubrication of the 'O' ring.

The inside edge of the reinforcing washers needed to be relieved a bit to allow for the radius of the mounting flange. Otherwise, it went together as expected. The orange arrow below indicates the upper reinforcement washer.

Image


When I torqued down the 3/4"UNF nuts to 250ft.lb., there was very little room to fit the socket and torque wrench head onto the nut, to the point that at one stage, it became wedged in place and I feared that I may have to disassemble the housings to get it out.:oops: But a carefully placed punch and hammer saved the day!

There is a required order of assembly of the rest of the hub/brakes section, in this order: axle shaft/spindle/lube shield+drain plate/inner bearing (repacked)/brake cam shaft(or earlier)/brake shoes (anchour adjustment backed off)/hub/outer bearing (repacked)/bearing nuts + washer/adjust brake shoe anchours and lock in place/backing plates/brake chamber/then adjust brake cam/axle felt seal+spring/drive plate/circlip.

The wheel bearings were quite dry, and the grease seemed to have ended up in the hub. It was stringy, so I probably added something to it so that it would not migrate out of the bearing. Not successful.
So, how do I keep the grease in these bearings for the long haul? This was only about 4000kms. I have only ever once seen a wheel bearing inspected that had the grease still in it, and it was a common additive (Morleys?) used. Expert/experienced advice appreciated.
Anyway, I reluctantly forced myself the hand pack the bearings ready for assembly. What a mess, I do not tolerant grease-covered hands as well as I have in the past! I use barrier cream.
Thank goodness that job is done.

Looking for something different to do, I pulled the top cover from a rear diff as it seems its' gasket is the main source of the oil dampness on the housing. While there, I checked the oil in the upper housing. The bearings in this upper housing are notorious for failure due to lack of lubrication. Using a (paddle-pop) dip stick, I found that there was about 40mm of oil there. So I thought I'd prime this section of the diff housing with a litre of oil, which raised the level to about 60mm. However, after a few minutes, I noticed the oil had dropped back to the previous level. Cool! That means that: 1) the housing is getting its' oil properly. 2) the 40mm of oil is the designed level for that section of the diff. That is reassuring. 8)

So, I replaced the top cover gasket with 515 and we'll see how that works.

One more big job done.

Enjoy.
Sam.

*for those interested in english, this word rhymes with' five'
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Tue May 25, 2021 1:20 pm

Good morning fellow truck tragics,

Yesterday, I took the Glorifier for its' first drive, 15kms, after all the oil leak, wheel alignment, radial tyres and springs work. I also did a few overlooked lube jobs such as the front shock absorber links, rear spring pads and topped up the front diff which takes more oil since it has been rotated. So I under-filled it the same as the gearbox i.e. 1/2" below the filler plug.

The tyres are Goodyear omnitrac 12.00R20 as used on Unimogs. I mounted them on four 8.5" wide rims on the rear and 7.75" original rims on the front.

Image


The test fit showed that they are still not too big for the truck. I increasingly suspect that the 4ton 6x6 DTs were originally designed for this (or similar) sized tyres. After test fitting . . . .

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. . . . I painted them. This is how I keep overspray off the tyres.

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The Glorifiers' good manners were immediately noticeable, even before I got out of the yard. At low speed, lock-to-lock turns are quite manageable, including no contact of the tyres on chassis/steering parts, so typical of fitting oversize tyres. Perhaps these tyres are not oversize by the original design of the truck :?: .

As I have not yet GPS clocked its' speeds, I was guessing how fast I was going. It did pickup on the open road quite smartly and came to a comfortable cruising speed about 200r.p.m. less than previously, around the 70-75kph I guess. The rattle is gone, (YEAH!!) and the big vibrations are gone but there is a small high frequency one still. No biggie. Some roughness of ride I put down to no load on a stiff suspension and cold tyres.

This combination of 43 1/2" diameter tyres and 6BTA engine seems to be close to a sweet spot at this early stage of testing. In a few days, I plan to do some sand dune driving to test tyre pressures and general off-road ability.

Upon my return to base, I was doing some general tidying up when, to my dismay, I noticed a puddle of oil under the front diff. GOOD GRIEF! I can't take a trick! :x
Investigation showed that I had forgotten to replace a plug in the top of the pinion carrier housing. I have no idea why it is there. So, I found and fitted a replacement plug and de-greased the housing.
What a relief that lot is done. 8)

The jobs are getting smaller and easier, thank goodness.

More jobs completed.

Have a nice day.
Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Sat Jun 05, 2021 1:40 pm

Good morning fellow Diamond T engineers,

As I am away for work during the week at the moment, not a lot is happening.
Last weekend, we went for a drive to a local beach camping area to try out the Glorifiers' ability in sand. This is because in about a month, we'll have over 1000 sand dunes to cross. I thought it might be a bit of an idea to try it first! 8)

The track in to the beach was the softest sand . . . .

Image


. . . and driving around the camping area was quite doable.

Image

Image


Ability-wise, it was about what I would expect from my GPW Jeep. Having reduced the tyre pressures from 70psi to 40psi, it was as expected. I would, in very very soft conditions, be prepared to go as low as perhaps 25psi, I think. Time will tell.
On road, it was very well behaved, the steering being comparable to my 25y.o. Triton 4WD ute. It was not sluggish on the road and the 80km round trip went without incident, . . . except.
I found myself trapped in low branches in the sand dunes, doing some damage. :x
Broke the aerial mount, damaged the worklights and scratched some paint. I wanted some patina, but not like that. More repairs.

More jobs done (and a couple created).

Have a nice week.

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.

kw573
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1232
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Near Bundaberg, Australia.

Re: A 969 rebuild from Downunder.

Post by kw573 » Wed Jun 23, 2021 1:44 pm

Good morning fellow MV voyeurs,

Much work has been happening in preparation for our trip to Northern Territory.
A random vice has been cleaned, lubed, painted and fitted to the front bumper. This was common Australian practice in service. A bridge plate which Dennis kindly made for me has been fitted and electrical outlets have been fitted in the cabin, battery box and front bumper. Canvas door uppers have been test fitted (Thanks Jim at Allied Forces) and hopefully a set of data plates will arrive before departure.

Whilst making the siren switch bracket, I noticed that there was a crack in the alternator mount.

Image


Hmm, as there is going to be 100s kms of rough dirt roads ahead, it demanded attention. :?
So I removed it which required the removal of the inner guard. When the alternator dropped onto the chassis rail, I noticed the small coolant hose behind it had been rubbing on the alternator. No damage, but definitely a small contact mark. So, after welding the mount, which didn't really need it after all, . . . .

Image


. . . and refitting it, I juggled the alternator position between the conflicting needs of hose clearance vs. inner guard clearance vs. belt tension. I managed to get about 1/4" clearance to the hose as seen in the inspection mirror below.

Image


But the alternator fan would rub on the inner guard at the slightest uneven ground (chassis flex). So, as everything else was good, I decided to be a bit rough and grind the outer corner off the aluminum fan.

Image


Worked very well. There is a good 1/4" clearance there now. Note that grinding non-ferrous metals has risks associated with metal clogging the stone and later causing it to explode, I'm told.

Image


Then I could get back to the original reason for being in there, the fitting of the siren switch bracket. As I did not want anything extra on the dash, I opted to use the un-used choke cable to operate a motor bike brake light switch to feed a relay to feed power direct from alternator to siren.

Image


I pilfered the little brass screw clamp out of an old 3-pin 240v plug and the cable clamp from an old mower. It all seems to work well.
It is mostly packing time now. The wrecker body lacks tie-down points, and this causes some problems.

We plan to leave in 4 days time.
I'm excited!! :D

Have a nice day.

Sam.
1942 Script GPW (Daily driver).
MB-T trailer.
Diamond T 969. ('The Glorifier')
Diamond T 969, rusty, complete, for sale.
Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker x 2.
M2A1 white HT. ('Clarrie')
Light Recovery Trailer (Ford?).
3ton GS (Blitz) Trailer.
150gal water tanker trailer.
Air compressor trailer, 100c.f.m.


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